Play Room Ideas for Every Age and Every Stage of Your Family

From Toddler to Teen, every age brings a different stage in family life. Here are my top Play Room Ideas for your home.

Open shelving with smaller, loose items housed in tubs and baskets means a child can see easily what’s there, while everything has a dedicated place to return to when not in use.
A table is useful for arts, crafts and homework.
Two tables in a family house are extremely convenient, meaning that projects and homework etc need not be tidied away every meal-time.
Younger children naturally gravitate towards adults, so try and facilitate at least some toy storage and play space in or as close to the kitchen as possible.
The younger the children, the larger the toys, it seems! We stored large items in their bedrooms, where possible, to avoid the whole area being overwhelmed with plastic.
While open shelves accommodate frequently used toys well, some closed cupboard space would be useful for infrequently used items and to prevent these from gathering dust.
Place the play area near the main garden or external play area where possible.
Where the family computer is to be housed here, make sure it is visible from the kitchen area to facilitate parental control.
Older children will require more privacy – and parents their sanity! Plan for/allocate a separate room where they can gather with friends, if possible.

The main play area sits within our Kitchen/Dining/Family Room, opening onto the main garden.
The terrazzo floor is good for lego, cars and trains, while the rug facilitates soft play.
Toy storage centres around an open shelved unit from Habitat which measures 157cm wide x 33cm deep x 111cm high.
Loose items are stored in this unit in large plastic tubs. Multi-drawer plastic units from Muji, which also have dividable inserts, have proved invaluable for storing lego and other tiny items. They each measure 26w x 32h x 37d.
Arts and crafts activities are facilitated on the table in the central area, with materials stored in a mobile unit and in the drawers under a wall-mounted desk.
The family computer is located on this desk, optimising adult supervision of internet use etc.
A low bookcase of birch ply stores children’s books and craft kits. This unit is on castors for optimum flexibility. It was designed to act as a divider between the living area to the front and the crafts/dining area in the middle. It is extra deep, meaning that additional, hidden, book storage is accessible from the opposite side also. It measures 200cm long x 20cm deep x 75cm high.